West Indies have been penalised for a slow over-rate during the recently-concluded first Test against England at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
The Kraigg Brathwaite-led side were found guilty of two overs short after reasonable adjustments and time allowances had been taken into consideration. Therefore, West Indies have been fined 40 per cent of their match fee by the umpiring team of Joel Wilson, Gregory Brathwaite, Nigel Duguid and Leslie Reifer.
Captain Brathwaite pleaded guilty to the offence, with ICC Elite Panel of match referee Richie Richardson imposing the sanction without need for a formal hearing.
The Caribbean team have also been penalised two points in the ICC World Test Championship Standings. The implications of the docked points mean that West Indies have now slipped below Bangladesh in the WTC table to the eighth spot.
Notably, West Indies is the third team to have been docked points due to penalty overs. Apart from the Windies, India have been cropped three points so far, and ninth-placed England have been docked ten points.
In the match, West Indies frontline spinner Veerasammy Permaul only bowled 25 overs while a four-pronged seam attack delivered 188.5 overs. There is no doubt that the lack of spin overs was a significant factor in the slow over-rate, and Brathwaite also pointed it out as an area for improvement going into the second Test in Barbados.
“There are some areas in terms of run-rate we can improve, and it’s simply just setting the field and bowling to it and being disciplined enough to bowl to that field. I think we can do that better, especially in the middle overs when a partnership may build. I think once we’re tighter, then we can build a little more pressure for us to get the wickets later in the innings,” said Brathwaite ahead of the Barbados Test.
